Told she needed surgery immediately after learning of the diagnosis in September, Andrews, 38, insisted on staying to work a game and kept her disease secret from colleagues. She eventually had surgery Oct. 11 and another procedure Nov. 1.

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"I'm not watching any football games at home," Andrews told her doctor. "This is (Fox’s) Super Bowl year, and I'm not missing the Super Bowl."

The diagnosis came in the same year she settled a lawsuit against a Nashville hotel where her private life was invaded after she was secretly filmed in the nude. The experience, Andrews said, helped her face the next challenge in her life.

"After the trial everyone kept telling me, ‘You’re so strong, for going through all of this, for holding down a job in football, for being the only woman on the crew,'" she said. "Finally I got to the point where I believed it too. 'Hey, I have cancer, but damn it, I am strong, and I can do this.'"